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Overview of human resources-related reports as part of company communications.
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Quick reference
Topic
Overview of human resources-related reports as part of company communications.
When to use
When writing employment-centered content.
Instructions
Purpose
Typical topics of employment-centered content:
- Policy
- Position
- Performance
- Employee Relations
- Benefits, Salary, Laws and More (not within our scope)
Human Resources-Related Reports Overview
- Templates for performance reviews, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and memos are common
- Policy: notifications go in a memo, changes go in the manual. Deliver clear information
- Infractions: express what needs to change and what behaviors are sought
- In Response: use candor, business tone and facts
- Position: two-way communication is best (not information-out only!). Detail key expectations
- Performance: an evaluation is rarely perfect, but should be fair and well-supported. No direct comparisons to other staffers
- Internal: connect employees with the company journey
- 00:04 Now we're going to cover the uses of and approach to human resources related reports as
- 00:12 part of company communications, concentrating on employees center content.
- 00:18 For content related to the needs and management of company employees
- 00:23 business writing concerns keeping an eye on
- 00:26 how we stay open in the lines of communication
- 00:29 so morale and performance stay high also. Typical topics of employee centered content
- 00:37 are: matters of policy.
- 00:39 For example changes and responses to changes in policy,
- 00:43 infractions of policy or standard operating procedures.
- 00:48 Matters of position for example on-boarding new employees, job descriptions or duties
- 00:55 or retirement rules.
- 00:58 Matters of performance for instance performance reviews or praise of a job well done.
- 01:05 employee relations, communications in this area would include
- 01:09 year end report-backs to the company at large or newsletters to a smaller staffs happening weekly or monthly.
- 01:17 And, discussion of benefits; salary, laws and more
- 01:22 this really isn't within our scope of our business writing course.
- 01:28 For human resources and employment related writing
- 01:33 a key consideration is the use of templates.
- 01:39 Templates are a great choice for certain forms such as performance reviews,
- 01:44 SOPs or standard operating procedures,
- 01:47 memos, and so on and they're common, because experts know that it keeps all communications on an even field with everyone
- 01:58 across the board. Shown here for example
- 02:00 is a template for an employee orientation presentation that would bring new employees on board with all the same background information.
- 02:11 And it's a PowerPoint that comes from the Microsoft Office
- 02:17 web site, downloaded that anyone could use.
- 02:22 A policy memo
- 02:24 is something that is very common because notifications often happen in a timely fashion
- 02:30 and are effective immediately.
- 02:33 Changes however would also need to be included for the long term in the larger document known as the Policy Manual. Overall you want to
- 02:42 make sure that the communication is clear everyone understands it,
- 02:48 and consistent in all forms.
- 02:53 If there are infractions to a policy
- 02:56 or a complaint happens when something goes wrong
- 03:00 the most important
- 03:01 content is written expression of what needs to change
- 03:07 and what behaviors are sought.
- 03:09 And in response if you're on the receiving end of a complaint or a warning
- 03:15 remember use candor in your response. It's best to address the problem or accusation
- 03:22 head on and honestly, speaking of business tone in your writing and use facts to support your response.
- 03:31 For matters of position,
- 03:33 if you are in charge of writing a matter of position such as a job description
- 03:39 or an onboarding manual
- 03:42 keep the communication two-ways. It's an important consideration for human resources
- 03:48 and employment related writing it is not information-out only.
- 03:54 You should detail key expectations but also get input and ask for questions.
- 04:00 For performance related matters, remember
- 04:04 an evaluation is rarely perfect, but take care to make sure that the writing is always fair and well supported
- 04:13 and remember don't ever make direct comparisons
- 04:17 to other members of the staff.
- 04:19 It should be general and written about the person in the review.
- 04:26 Finally internal communications:
- 04:29 the whole point of company communications is to connect
- 04:34 each employee with the journey of the company at large, so from strictly business of policy changes
- 04:44 and human resources documentation all the way through the candid factual responses to warnings
- 04:52 and fair performance reviews and right down to the fun communications that can take place at the
- 04:59 employee newsletter level, just know that your employee centered communications success depends on
- 05:09 creating the right content for the right purpose.
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